Fuji Dream Airlines Orders Two More EMBRAER 175 Jets

Fuji Dream Airlines (FDA), of Japan, has signed a contract for two EMBRAER 175 jets, in a ceremony held at the headquarters of the airlines’ parent company, Suzuyo Corp. in Shimizu, Japan. The total value of the deal is USD 81.6 million, at list price, which will be included in Embraer’s fourth quarter of 2012 backlog. Both aircraft will be configured in a single-class layout with 84 seats. This order brings the total number of aircraft in the airline's all-E-Jet fleet to eight.

“This follow-on order demonstrates the viability of E-Jets to succeed in highly-competitive domestic markets, like Japan,” said Paulo Cesar Silva, President & CEO, Embraer Commercial Aviation. “What is particularly impressive is how FDA recognized an untapped opportunity, realized that smaller capacity aircraft were key to a sound business strategy, and has now grown to eight airplanes in just over three years. We are honored by FDA’s confidence in our jets and privileged to work with them in contributing to the optimization of the market potential in Japan.”

“The efficiency and reliability of the E-Jets have enabled us to continue growing and expanding our network and services throughout Japan. The E-Jets are a core component of FDA’s success, and we look forward to strengthening our position in the market with heightened capacity and frequency, with these two new aircraft,” said Yohei Suzuki, the president of Fuji Dream Airlines.

These aircraft will be equipped with Autoland systems to perform CAT III approach and landing in limited visual conditions. This system assures on-time performance of aircraft and avoids diversions or delays due to weather. In line with FDA’s brand, each of these aircraft will be painted in a different color. The colors of the six E-Jets in the airline’s current fleet are red, light blue, green, orange, pink and purple.

Created in 2007 as a low-cost operator, FDA initially ordered two E170 jets for its start-up operations from Shizuoka, in July 2009. In that same year, FDA ordered another E175, and subsequently added one E170 and two E175 jets between 2010 and 2011, thereby tripling its initial fleet in less than 3 years of revenue service.

With aircraft based in Nagoya and Shizuoka, FDA links secondary cities in Japan where demand is growing. The six E-Jets in FDA’s current fleet covers a network of 10 stations spread across Japan such as Fukuoka, Niigata, Aomori and Sapporo. The airline has carried over 1.3 million passengers to date. It operates 40 daily flights and has been doing so with an outstanding schedule reliability of 99.5% on average for the last 12 months.